Method of harnessing the underflow adjacent to streams in sandy strata.



. 'J. H. HUNTER.V METHOD 0F HARNBSSING THE U NDERPLOW ADJAGENVT T0 STREAMS IN SANDY STRATA. APPLIOATION FILED 11.11113, 1914. 1,125,848.

mama 12111.19, 1915.

.1. Y MMI :l ,MILSFUI- man/1ers' unrrnn sanneratrn i ""1 ourucn.

JAMES HARVEY HUNTER, 0F OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

Murnau or nannnssrne fren Unnsnrnow nmacnn'r ro STREAMS 1N SANDY strana.

Speccation of :Lettersv Patent.

Patented Jan. 1 9, 191

Application filed March 3, 1914. .Serial Ncfd.

To all whom t may v at mcev'n.; Y

13e it known that I, .Linus 'HAnvnr .HUN- TEB, a citizen of the United States., and a resident-of Omaha, Lin the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have devised an llmproved Method ofyHarnessing the Under- Aflow Adjacent .to'Stre'ams in. Sandy Strata, .of which the following is a specification.

Our 'western rivers such as the Platte, Niobrara, Smoky Hill, the Arkansas, and many others have' :much similarity in vgeneral features, and have a fall of from seven to fteen feet to the mile. The valleys or land lying along these rivers are of great width, in some places fifteen miles wide, and underneath the top layer of black soil there is a stratum of pure merchantable sand, sometimes extending to a depth of'ninety feet or Aeven more,and underneath .this stratum is a rock bottom.

The sand-bed is full of water which slowly percolates down the stream, adjoining a river. The variation in the depth oi' the water in the river and the adjacent sand stratum is not more than eighteen inches throughout the year, high water being in the early spring time and low water in August and September.

I have devised a new and successful method for obtaining clear waterffrom the sand stratum which is conducted oli down-d stream, or to any desired. point where it is available for irrigation, or power purposes, or for supplying towns or cities.

In carrying out my invention, l iirst dig a trench large enough for the pipe to be used, the latter being generally from tour to ten feet in diameter. The trench is dug to a depth that will allow the top of the pipe to be covered by the water atleast one foot below low water level, and the trench has a fall of one foot or more to the mile; and, as the top` surface lof thefland has a still greater inclinatiomiit is apparent that the pipe will comel out above the soil at a greater f or less distance from` its mouth or upper end. From thereon the pipe may be laid above ground'and .extended Lto any desired point,

into ditches, or-for power purposes, or city lSIPP" .-If thewater isused for 1rr1 ation purposes only,'then it of course su ces to dischargeon the top ofthe ground into ditches or reservoirs;and/forc1ty purposes thepipe or wherethe water ist be' delivered either' will connect with suitable rsl'naller` dstribub ing pipes.. Y v

= When thenpipe islaid in 'the trench, as above stated, its upper end must be closedvby means of a cap or other device, 1n order I,to keep out the water until, theoperation is completed; that is to say, until a large excavation shall have been .madam-'the sand. Thusthe first step consists in digging the ditch or trench tov the Vrequired depth andktf rolling into it a long length of pipe which* has been Weighted with -a' -ceientbaudn order to hold it underwater. The, pip'e is then covered, except at the lower end where lthe Worlf of extending it is `continued. 7D Powerful pumps are employed to keep the water out ci the ditch until` `it gains a 'level as will not be necessary An excavaV K j tion is then made, the lower or top'soil being first removed, thus exposing a clean sand 75 I stratum.

The sand may be excavated by any suit* able machinery, and, .in practice, loaded on cars, since it 1s a commercial article of con siderable value.

The next step consists in uncapping'or A unclosing the end of the pipe which projects into the excavation. The underflow fills the excavation as. fast as it is made, and the size of the excavation will depend upon circumvtances, particularly upon the diameter oi the pipeline, the downward inclination of" the same, etc. Thus, when the operation is complete, a perpetual liowof pure water throughl the pipe is assured.' There is 9,0 scarcely any limit to rthe number of pipes that can be laid and concentrated into Vone large pipe or reservoir after reaching the top of the ground.

My method isp-illustrated-'inf-the accomplaying drawing, in whioh-j-v y' i Figure 1 shows ampipe 'linen laid -in a waterbearing stratun'll kof b`,it being understood that a trench has been dug to the required depth and the pipe line laid therein and covered with sand. Fig. 2 is an illustration of the .necessary steps in the method, which consist :in digging the required excavation to the required depth "c around and adjacent to 'the mouth of; the V1055 pipegand then removing the cap which previously closed it as shown in Fig. 1.` In- Fig. 3, the pipe line is shown constructed of longitudinal staves bound by lnds of iron e and..weighted by cement bands f, ,which 11.0

serve to hold it firmly in place under water in the sand..

It is to be understood, however, that theA pipe may be constructed of other material, for instance, of sheet-steel sections riveted together. L `z Y.

The pipe must be sunk at least one foot below the lowest water mark in order to insure a continual flow. It will be further un# derstood that the' pipe-laying' must be complete before the pond or reservoir can be dug, since the Water would be entirely uncontrollable if the latter were made first; and this is the chief point oir-merit of my method or system.

In selecting' a locality for the pond o reservoir, I prefer a. tract of 80 acres or thereabout, and this is ot' course adjacent to a river, preferably Where thebnks are lo'w and the underflow is near the surface. apparent that if the' mouth of the pipe were not closed until the operation is otherwise complete. the water in the trench would naturally prevent men trom worklng, and the Water would lie required to he pumped Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

It isl out of` the trench. By 'closing the mouth of the pipe the flow through the latter is prevented, but pumping of the water from the trench is necessary, and, when half a mile of pipe is laid in the trench', the pipe can usually be laid near the top of the ground, wheret is then an easy matter to proceed with the further construction.

The method hereinbefore described e011-,V

sisting indigging a trench from a point upstream to a point down-stream in a watercontaining sand stratum, to a depth below the low water level; then laying in said trench a pipe Whose uppl" end is closed; then excavating the sand adjacent to and around the closed upper end of the pipe, to form a reservoir of a required capacity; and finally unclosing the exposed end of the pipe.l as described. i

' 1 JAMES HARVEY HUNTER.

X'Vitnesses W. DRESSLER, R. J. Busse.

Washington, D. C. 

